Best Events of 2007

America's social contract -- the complex, largely unwritten deal between workers, employers, and government that gives individuals the security they need to navigate a dynamic economy -- is eroding. The arrangements of our existing social contract no longer make sense in an economy characterized by global labor markets, shortened job tenure, heightened capital mobility, rapid technological change, and increased pressure for short-term profits. Ensuring that every American can access the goods and services necessary to enjoy a productive… more

The Legislature, Governor Schwarzenegger and key health care stakeholders are deep in discussions on how to reform California’s broken health care system, including how to reduce the number of uninsured Californians. At this event, New America Foundation Health Policy Program Director Len Nichols and Peter Harbage discussed how to use the principles of seamless coverage and shared responsibility to create a process to ensure all Californians have health coverage, including what we can learn from recent successful experiments in… more

The Foundation for Child Development Child Well-Being Index (CWI) provides a research-based look at the status of children in the United States over the last 30 years. Now, for the first time, the CWI examines the status of American children in relation to that of children in other countries. The CWI uses English-speaking democracies with strong market-based systems to provide a more meaningful “apples to apples” portrait of the relative well-being of American children. The study contrasts the well-being… more

American social policy, and the debate about poverty and inequality, are constrained by assumptions about politics: That only universal programs will win political acceptance and programs targeted toward the poor will always be poor programs. That the modest American welfare state was built in two great waves, The New Deal and The Great Society, the likes of which we'll never see again. That tax credits and incentives are a subtler and more effective way of delivering benefits than direct… more

The death of Taliban commander Mullah Dudallah has scored a major victory for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, while the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved H.R. 2446, the Afghanistan Freedom and Security Support Act (AFSSA), authorizing $1.6 billion per year over the next three years for development, economic and security assistance programs in Afghanistan. However, these successes are set against the backdrop of a deteriorating political and security environment -- with the steady rise of suicide attacks… more

When it comes to the economy, it's often said that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Yet most economists have been confounded by the failure of recent productivity gains to significantly raise the incomes for the majority of American workers.

At this special event, a presentation of the Next Social Contract Initiative at the New America Foundation, MIT economists Frank Levy and Peter Temin presented their new paper “Inequality and Institutions in 20th Century America,” which… more

There is a widening breach between most of the 35 million people residing in California and the fewer than 9 million who actually vote. Seven million Californians are eligible to vote but for one reason or another don’t bother. A small group of frequent voters, who are richer, whiter, older and hold different opinions on education, social spending, Prop.13, and more compared to their nonvoting neighbors -- form the majority that decides which candidates win and which ballot measures pass.… more

The upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) presents an opportunity for the federal government to expand access to high-quality, early education programs. At present, quality standards vary widely among federal, state, local, and private early care and education programs, and relatively few programs align their curricular and teacher standards with early elementary school grades. There is a role for the federal government to play in both expanding access and harmonizing decentralized early education programs horizontally across… more

In an era of increasingly high oil and gas prices, concerns about CO2 emissions, and uncertainty about the security of supply, energy policy has come to dominate political discourse around the world. To date, the energy debate has centered largely on how to secure future energy supply and how to finance research into alternative sources of fuel. While these concerns are important, no energy policy will succeed without first mining our immense energy efficiency opportunities. After all, what's the point… more

Whether the objective is to promote retirement security, improve educational attainment, provide a financial cushion for life transitions, or increase national savings, the need to increase household savings is vitally clear. As is well known, the personal savings rate in the United States has been falling for nearly two decades and became negative two years ago, a level not seen since the Great Depression.

In an environment of large budget deficits and bulging entitlement obligations, little revenue can be sacrificed… more